


Zelos, the Untrustworthy

by Seikkun



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Death Scene, Everyone is here but no sense tagging them all because this is Zelos centric, Gen, Or maybe sheelos anyway because I always write Zelos as in love with her, Sheelos if you squint, Tower of Salvation, Zelos' Bad End
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 23:37:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21107870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seikkun/pseuds/Seikkun
Summary: "Zelos...Can I really trust you?”A little drabble from Zelos' point of view at the Tower of Salvation after he makes that fatal choice to kill himself at the party's hands.





	Zelos, the Untrustworthy

_"Zelos...Can I really trust you?”_

The smile on the Chosen’s face was frozen, and not from the icy wind that nipped at the faces of the party. His laughter echoed in the early morning air as he brushed the question aside, reassuring Lloyd that of course he could be trusted. His gaze slides sideways over the rest of the party. A pair of half-elves, a convicted criminal, a member of an outcast village that defies the crown, a loner whose time was stopped...Lloyd had put his faith so readily into them, but he still had to stop and ask about Zelos. He’d even blindly put his faith into a man who had openly betrayed them, but there was a hesitation on his face as he watched Zelos. The Chosen laughed again, slinging an arm around the red-clad swordsman, repeating his reassurances. There was a bitter taste on his tongue and a hollowness in his chest.

Zelos, the untrustworthy. He’s been called worse.

There is disbelief on Lloyd’s face now, and Zelos laughs, truly laughs to see it there. Maybe the question had really been just a question, no deeper meaning. He finds it hard to believe though, that Lloyd could actually have placed any faith into him and still asked that question. The sword in his hand is a familiar weight, and he curls his fingers tighter around it. 

“Friend, huh? I never did get you to trust me though.”

Lloyd tries to voice a protest, but it’s too little, too late. Zelos isn’t willing to listen any more. He’s already chosen his path. In fact, he chose it a long time ago, he’s just taken far longer than he should have to get here. They’re all watching him, muscles tense, various expressions of betrayal and shock on their faces. Releasing his mana feels like letting go of a heavy burden, and he feels lighter than air, lighter than anything as his wings glimmer into existence. Maybe it was finalizing the decision that really lifted the weight, but he feels as though the slightest breeze could carry him away, away forever.

He’s ready. He’s been waiting for this, but he knows he has to push a little harder to get where he’s going. Lloyd is still standing rigid, his swords drawn but not really at the ready. Zelos knows he’s holding onto some futile, stupid hope that the Chosen will change his mind, and he knows he has to make the first move. His movements are weightless, effortless, and Raine is down before anyone even has the chance to blink, felled by a swift and harsh strike of his sword pommel. He’s not aiming to kill them.

The only blood he’s looking to spill is his own.

Genis cries out his sister’s name, but Zelos is there. The kid is so small he almost feels bad for him as he knees him in the chest, knocking all the wind out of him. Zelos kicks the kendama away as Genis falls, wheezing for breath. Angelic strength might be a little too much, but he knows the kid has an exsphere. If anything broke, Raine could mend it. Lloyd still hasn’t moved, but Regal moves to intercept Zelos before he can choose another target. This isn’t the first time he’s sparred with Regal, but it is the first time he’s used his full strength, his full agility. Regal seems slow, clumsy, but Zelos steps into a kick anyway. He feels several ribs crack, a line of fire lancing across his chest, and he smiles. This is what he’s here for.

Still, Raine won’t stay down forever, and Regal isn’t his real target. Regal cannot match an airborne target efficiently, and Zelos takes him and Presea down in quick succession. Genis is still wheezing, but he’s moving. Zelos eyes him for a moment, but he’s crawling for his sister instead of his weapon, so the Chosen leaves him be. Lloyd’s finally in a defensive stance, and behind him, Sheena’s face is filled with fire.

Zelos can’t bring himself to go for her. He engages Lloyd instead, relishing the burn of his aching, broken ribs. It’s funny how alive he feels, how the usual empty hollow feeling has somehow vanished. The lightness is fading, his muscles feeling the strain as he lets his mana flow unhindered, using wind spells for defense instead of offense to fend off Sheena’s spell cards. He’s quite literally letting his life drain away, but he doesn’t care. 

Even with his attention divided fending off Sheena, Lloyd isn’t presenting a challenge. Zelos can feel his hesitation, and he hates it. He doesn’t understand how Lloyd can still pretend there might be a chance for things to be ok. Raine is awake and attending the others, and he doesn’t have much time left. There’s blood dripping from a cut above his eye, a warm line tracing down his cheek in the same path a tear might take. Regal came a little closer to connecting than he might have realized.

His breathing is a little more ragged now, the burning ache of his ribs becoming more and more pronounced. Sheena connects with a pyre seal, the explosion knocking him backwards, away from Lloyd, and he grits his teeth in frustration.

He’s running out of time. He’s running out of options. The laughter on his lips is bitter and tastes of copper. 

His shield is hard to lift, the weight straining his broken ribs, so he casts it aside. He doesn’t need it anyway. Lloyd meets his charge readily, defensively, still not pressing his advantage. He’ll have plenty of backup in a moment anyway, but Zelos isn’t going to wait that long. He creates his own opening, and steps into it, as he stepped into Regal’s blow.

He thought he couldn’t do it himself, but it seems he could after all, as long as there was another hand at the other end of the blade. His laughter is still bitter, but his smile is triumphant as he falls to his knees, pressing one hand to the wound. Even if he hadn’t let his own mana burn away he wouldn’t try to heal it. 

He’s been waiting for this. It’s years overdue. 

_“You should never have been born.”_

It’s years overdue, but he’s finally correcting the mistake. He wonders if he ought to thank Lloyd.

“To tell you the truth, I was getting pretty tired of living anyway” he reassures the other swordsman, surprised to find another hand over his own, putting pressure on the wound. He pushes Lloyd’s hand away, and accidentally catches Sheena’s gaze. Some things still hurt. Some things never got resolved. He wishes just for a moment he’d chosen differently, but the bitter smile is still on his lips.

“Make sure you destroy my crystal” he instructs Lloyd. He doesn’t want any trace of himself left behind.

He lets his eyes drift closed. Breathing is hard, talking is harder, but he was ready for this.

He’s been waiting for this.

**Author's Note:**

> This little drabble is also available on Zelos' blog on tumblr (sunset-wings). It's incredible the weight that hangs on one phrasing difference. In the other path of the game, Lloyd tells Zelos he trusts him instead of asking if he can trust him, and Zelos hangs his whole life on that one expression of faith in him.


End file.
